Grain-car door.



G. H. FAHRENBRUCH.

GRAIN CAR DGOR. APPLICATION mm'mov. 16. 1914.

Patented May 4, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Z1 Z6 Z550 50 Z9 Y raz/w G. H. FAHRENBRUCH.

GRMN GAR noos.

APPLICATION man nov.1s. 1914. Lw l Patented May 4, 1915. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

an STATES Para OFFICE.

GEORGE H. FAHRENBRUCH, F IOMAHA, NEBRASKA..

GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

its object to provide a door as well kas a' -frame for the same,

so that the door and frame may be conveniently and readily removed from the door opening in the car; so w that the door and frame will not be inthe A will be hereinafter more way when the car is empty, but may be moved bodily to any place in the car', or may be hung as shown by hangers and simply moved rearwardly to a safe position.

In 'a good many instances grain car doors are left in their regular position, even though the car is empty, and they often become damaged 'by malicious acts, or by being roughly handled by the trainmen on account of their operating in a way different to that of doors of ordinary construction.

Another object therefore of my invention is to provide a door and frame that may be conveniently hung if so desired, quickly moved from its ordinary wherein the door may be also vquickly removed from the frame, if so desired.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a door and frame that is positioned on the inside of the car and may be quickly drawn tightly against the posts of the freight car door case; the locking mechanism of which is easy to operate, and at the same time provide a locking mechanism that cannot possibly work loose while the car is lin transit.

Another object of my invention is to pro; vide a door and frame and also a locking mechanism, so that when' the locking mechanism is released the door will open from the weight of the grain behind the same, or will need but a slight pull from an operator on the outside of the car.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in certain new and novel constructions and combination of parts as fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in elevation, showing a portion of a freight car Specication of Letters Patent.

position, and

' tightly fitting in shown a metal Patented May 4, 1915.

Application filed November 16, 1914. `Serial No. 872,356.

with my improved grain door in position. Fig. is a section taken on lilie 2 2 of-Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar section showing however the door in its open position. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the complete door and frame. Fig. 5 is an end view, and Fig. 6 isa rear view of the door and frame in position. 4

Referring now to the drawings which form a part hereof and in which like numerals designate corresponding parts, and first to Fig. 4, it will be seen that a rectangular frame 1 is provided, the rails and stiles of which frame may be more securely boud if desired by the two upper corner straps and 3, although any 4extra fastening or bindlng means may be used if so desired. 1t will be noticed (Fig. 3) that the bottom rail 4 of this frame is preferably beveled as at 5, and secured on the outer face of this bottom rail 4 is preferably a strip of metal 6 extending entirely the length of the rail 5, and in the upper portion of this strip are cut the small recesses 7. Secured in this bottom rail 4 of the frame 1 are preferably two rollers or. sheaves the lower face of these rollers extending slightly below the lower plane of the frame. It will be seen that in the several views in the drawings that the frame does not rest absolutely on the car Hoor, but this was somewhat exaggerated for the sake of clearness, and to show that the door would easily travel back and forth on the rollers or sheaves, it being understood of course that although the door must roll that no appreciable space must be left between the bottom rail and the car iioor, so that there will be no loss whatever of grain while the car is in transit. These rollers are secured by bolts 8 or any other preferably fastening means. Snugly or this frame 1 is a door 9 which door is preferably made up of a pluralty of strips to thus prevent any warpage, but any form of similar door might readily be used.

Extending across this door 9 there is binding or strengthening strip 10, which has extending longitudinally thereof a guide 11, through which is passed a pintle 12, (Fig. 3), the length of Which is such that it willv extend through openings 13 into the stiles of the frame 1, clearly shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

Secured t0 each of the stiles of the frame 1, and on the vface bands 14, which extend around the stiles and over the openings 13, and which bands are secured to the frame vby bolts or other preferable means. By providing these bands 14 which extend over the openings 13, the rod 'or pintle 12 is prevented from jarring from its normal position, and at the same time if for any reason it is desired to remove this rod or pintle simply by removing the bands 14 and removing the cotter pins 16 which pass through openings in the guide and in the rods 12, the same may be quickly accomplished. If so desired this rod may not extend completely across the door but two pintles might be used instead of one long one, or in fact any suitable and removable pivoting means might be employed. By providing this pivoting means near the top rail of the door a greater opening may be secured at the lower portion than if the door were pivoted near its center.

A plate or strip 17 similar vto plate 10 is rigidly secured to a lower portion of.the

door but in this instance an outer portion' of the guide such as 18 and 19 is cut away and pins 2O have their inner ends turned outwardly'as 21, (Fig. 3) also openings are provided in the Side of the Stiles in whichn the outer ends of these pieces are forced when in their locked position. In other words these :pins 20 act as a lock and may be moved in and out of their locking position when the door is in its closed position in the frame. Also there are small slots 22 formed in the cut away portions 18 and 19, so ythat the inner ends of the pins may be swung downwardly and into these slots thereby forming a safety lock so that it will' not be possible for these pins to work inwardly.

f Thelower edge of the door4 is preferably beveled corresponding to the beveled portion 5 ofthe bottom rail of the frame 4 to form a perfectly tight connection, and the door is also prevented from swinging too far inwardly by the upwardly extending portion of the bottom rail 4, 'and to further prevent an excessive swinging movement, the top rail of the frame is provided with a stop 23, also to prevent too great a movement in the other direction a strip 24 is provided on the inner face of the frame, clearly shown-in Figs. 3 and 6.

At or near the bottom of the door is a further strip of metal 25 for the purpose of securely holding the different pieces or panels of the door together, and directly above this metal strip are two eyelets or bearings 26 and 27 through which are passed the upper ends of a rod 28, the ends of these rods being turned at right angles to the upwardlv extending portion of the rod, so that it will be impossible for the said portions to escape from the said bearings. The major portion of this rod extends parallel with the mame? lower edge of the door and passes through a roller 29. In this instance also the rod 28 f metal turn buttons 30 which are pivoted at their upper ends and which are of such length that when the roller is in its lowermost position these arms when swung downwardly or ina vertical position will jam tightly against the roller thus securely holding it in its locked position and against the inner edge of the plate 6. It will'be understoodthat if desired more than three of these roller locks 30 may be used, but I have found that the number indicated is satisfactory for all purposes.

Secured to the outer faces of the stiles of the frame 1 are two slotted hinges '31 which may be swung over staples 32 positioned on the inside of the car, and through which staples may be passed pins 33 to tightly draw the frame against the door posts of the car. This form of fastening means is shown for the sake of convenience although any other form of fastening means may be readily employed to tightly draw the frame and door against the door post of the car.

I have also shown hangers 34 secured to the upper portion of the frame which in turn are supported by the rod 35 (Fig. 6l and also I have shown a stop 37 to limit the inward movement of the frame when the same is pulled to a safe position away from the door opening. It will also be understood that this form of supporting means is shown also as a convenient one, but any form of supporting means might be employed, and in fact 1f so desired all hanging means may be dispensed with, and the door just bodily moved to and away from the opening, although Some form of hanging means is preferable.

The operation of the door is as follows,

first supposing the c ar be full and the door in position, and it is desired to open the gram door to permit the escape of the grain,

the ends of the pins 21 are swung upwardly out of the slots 22 and then pulled to their inward position. The two end turn buttons are then forced upwardly out of contact with the roller 29, the middle turn button 30 is also forced out of position. and in mosty instances the weight of the grain on the door will force the roller upward and over the projectingplate 6 and the grain will of course flow through the opening between the frame and the door. If however ythe door is not forced open by-the weight of the grain the fingers may be passed through unlockmg the the recesses 7 in the strip 6 and the slight pull on the roller used as a handle will quickly release the said door.

Of course to lock the door the operations are just reversed, and to remove7 the door when the same is not in use to a safe position the pins 32 are simply pulled from the staples passing through the locks 31 thus frame from its position; it is then only necessary to slide the door back to the stop 37 where the same will be wholly out of the way and in a position of safety.

As before mentioned it is also an easy matter to remove the door from the frame by simply 'releasing the pintle.

It will be understood that this door in no way interferes with the regular side door of the freight car, but of course will absolutely prevent any loss of grain from the car.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the door may be made of but few pieces, and of any strength required, that it has but few moving arts, may be quickly taken apart, if so desired, may be readily placed in position, or on the other hand removed to a place of safety; is provided with locking mechanismwhich prevents the swinging of the door into an open position when in service and at the same time provides a door that may be swung to an open position with hardly any eifort and in fact in most instances Will open by the weight of the grain at the rear when the locking mechanism is once released.

It will be understood that throughout this specification although I have spoken of the outer portions of the door as a frame, it might` also be termed a removable door casing.

Many minor changes may be made in regard to the hanging mechanism or form of locking mechanism without departing from the spirit and scope-of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a grain car door, a frame, a door 'mountedin' said frame in combination with, arms mounted on said door and supporting a roller, extending substantially vacross the face thereof a face plate secured to the bottom rail of said frame and extending above the'lower level of the door said arms and roller ca able of upward and downwardy movemen and pivoted turn buttons adapted to contact with and securely hold said roller when in its downward position between said door and said face plate.

2. In a grain car door, a frame, a door, mounted in said frame, in combination with a roller extending parallel with the bottom rail of said frame, arms supporting said roller, bearings secured to said door, the upper ends of said arms and the said bearings coperating to allow an outward as well as a vertical movement of said arms and said roller, a projection extending above the bottom rail and means contacting with said roller to securely hold said roller when in its downward posltion between said door and said projection.

Signed at Omaha and State of Nebraska this 12th day of November, A. D. 1914.

GEORGE H. FAHRENBRUCH.

Witnesses Y. NELSON, F. E.' Umm'. 

